The Family Research Council’s Tom McClusky, responding to a statement issued by 55 Roman Catholic Democrats in the US House defending their faith, said in The Washington Post today:

"What is at the core of being Catholic is the life issue, and that's something the pope has never strayed from," he said. "While other issues are important -- such as helping the poor, the death penalty, views on war -- these are things that aren't tenets of the Catholic Church."

McClusky, a Roman Catholic himself, must have missed a few too many confirmation classes. The Catholic Alliance for the Common Good responded to his comments with this statement:

“Helping the poor has remained a basic principle of Catholic social ethics since the earliest days of our Church,” said Father Jim Hug, SJ, director of the Center of Concern and a Catholic Alliance participant. “Moreover, the Church’s present leadership has been unequivocal in its condemnation of the death penalty in the U.S., and has repeatedly expressed grave moral concerns over the Iraq War. It is disappointing that Mr. McClusky would use his position to suggest otherwise.” Mr. McClusky’s comments came as Pope Benedict XVI issued his message for Lent 2006, reflecting on “today’s rapidly changing world, in which our responsibility towards the poor emerges with ever greater clarity and urgency.” (MORE HERE)

“We believe that Mr. McClusky is wrong. He’s behind on 115 years of Catholic Social Teaching and 2000 years of gospel values.” said Sr. Simone Campbell SSS, National Coordinator for the Catholic social justice lobby organization NETWORK and a Catholic Alliance participant. “Obscuring the hopeful social message of the Catholic faith only serves to diminish the positive contributions our Church can make to a suffering world.”

Leave it to the Family Research Council to abandon the poor. They do it all the time.

Related Post: Roman Catholic Democrats Defend Their Faith